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PIB Headquarters
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PIB’S DAILY BULLETIN ON COVID-19

GoM reviews current status, and actions for management of COVID-19
Group of Ministers on Covid-19 had detailed deliberation on the measures taken as on date by the Centre and various States/UTs for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19. GoM was informed that all districts have been asked to follow and further strengthen their contingency plans to combat COVID-19; the GOM was briefed on the state-wise details of dedicated COVID-19 hospitals along with the adequacy of isolation beds/wards, PPEs, N95 masks, drugs, ventilators, oxygen cylinders etc.The GoM was also informed that as of now, 5,062 people have been cured with a recovery rate of 20.66%. Since yesterday, an increase of 1429 new cases has been reported. Also, a total of 24,506 people have been confirmed positive for COVID-19.
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MHA issues Order to States/UTs to allow Opening of Certain Categories of Shops, except those in Single and Multi-brand Malls
Giving relaxation in the category of Commercial and private establishments, MHA has issued an order to all States/UTs, to allow opening of all shops registered under Shops & Establishment Act of respective States/ UTs, including shops in residential complexes, neighborhood & standalone shops.Shops in market complexes, except those within the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities, would be allowed to open. Shops in single & multi-brand malls would not be allowed to open anywhere.
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Clarification on MHA order allowing Opening of Shops
This Order implies that:In rural areas, all shops, except those in shopping malls are allowed to open.In urban areas, all standalone shops, neighborhood shops & shops in residential complexes are allowed to open. Shops in markets/market complexes and shopping malls are not allowed to open.It is clarified that sale by e-commerce companies will continue to be permitted for essential goods only.
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Dr. Harsh Vardhan chairs a video conference with States/UTs Health Ministers regarding the steps taken on COVID-19
Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Health and Family Welfare interacted with all the State Health Minister and Health Secretaries through a video conference to review the preparedness and actions taken for management of COVID-19. He thanked the States for their efforts so far and requested them to focus on districts reporting a higher number of cases or faster doubling rate of their cases and districts where high case mortality is being noted. He urged the States to focus on surveillance, house-to-house active case finding, early identification of cases and proper clinical management to ensure that the patients get timely treatment and mortality is reduced.
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In a groundbreaking achievement, IIT Delhi develops low cost Probe-free Covid 19 detection assay
Union HRD Minister felicitated the team of scientists from IIT Delhi involved in the development of Probe-free COVID-19 detection assay. The testing kit will empower healthcare services and support government efforts to deal with Covid-19. This is the first probe-free assay for COVID-19 approved by ICMR and it will be useful for specific and affordable high throughput testing. This assay can be easily scaled up as it does not require fluorescent probes. The team is targeting large scale deployment of the kit at affordable prices with suitable industrial partners as soon as possible.
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Government Working on a Separate Scheme to Address Delayed Payments Issues of MSMEs -ShriNitinGadkari
While commenting on delayed payments to MSMEs, ShriGadkari said that all efforts should be made to make payments immediately and all Government Departments have been given such directions.
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Minister for Rural Development ShriNarendra Singh Tomar holds Video Conference with State Rural Development Ministers
Scaling up of works under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme , PradhanMantriAwaasYojanaGramin , PradhanMantri Gram SadakYojana  and National Rural Livelihood Mission  discussed. The Minister emphasised that the challenge of COVID-19 must be utilized as an opportunity to strengthen rural infrastructure, create employment in rural areas and facilitate diversification of rural livelihoods
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‘KisanRath’ mobile app turns big hit within a week of its launch
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare had launched “KisanRath” App on 17.04.2020 to facilitate Farmers and Traders in identifying right mode of transportation for movement of farm produce ranging from food grain , Fruits & Vegetables, oil seeds, spices, fiber crops, flowers, bamboo, log & minor forest produce, coconuts etc. Till date, total of 80,474 farmers and 70,581 traders are registered on this App.
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Finance Commission holds meeting with its Advisory Council
Members of the Advisory Council felt that the impact of the Covid pandemic and the national lockdown on the Indian economy can come through the slowdown in the domestic activity. All of them were unanimous that the projections of real GDP growth made before March 2020 need to be relooked into entirely, and revised downwards considerably. Once the lockdown of the economy is released, the recovery can only be excepted to be gradual, depending on the ability of the workforce to get back to work soon, restoration of supplies of intermediates and cash flows and, of course, the demand for output.
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Department of Posts to deliver essential items through National Road Transport Network with 22 routes of over 500km
Working on the idea of starting a road network with the existing fleet of departmental vehicles, primarily used for intra-city delivery, a National Road Transport Network has been designed with 22 long routes of over 500 km interspersed with 34 interstate/intra-state schedules touching over 75 cities across the country. This initiative will now ensure that there is a movement of essential items within the country as Department of Posts will be able to deliver parcels carrying essential items anywhere in the country.
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Shri Sanjay Dhotre takes stock of the state of IT services in the country
The Minister was informed that 75 million people have already downloaded ArogyaSetu App on their mobile phones. He called this app one of the most important tools in fighting Covid-19 and one of the lifelines for common people during this global pandemic.He asked the officials to make all out efforts to popularise the app.
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Biggest operation for distribution of pulses underway
In order to distribute one kg of pulses to about 20 crore households for three months in the country, a massive operation for transport and milling of pulses is underway. NAFED to distribute about 5.88 LMT pulses to about 20 crore NFSA households through ration shops for three months under PMGKAY.Operation to involve about two lakh truck trips and loading/unloading over 4 weeks
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ShriMansukhMandaviya interacts with Indian Maritime Sector representatives and discusses Business Continuity Plan and Path to Recovery Post COVID-19
ShriMansukhMandaviya assured the Maritime sector industry stakeholders that the Indian Ports are fully ready to start the operation as usual but there are a few challenges due to COVID-19 which will be solved with policy decisions and their sincere implementation.
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Coach Building Getting Back on Track in Indian Railways
Indian Railway’s Production unit Rail Coach Factory Kapurthala has reopened its production process on 23.04.2020 after 28 days lockdown. In a relentless battle against COVID 19, factory has been opened adhering all safety precautions and issued guidelines by Ministry of Home Affairs orders and local administration.
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In addition to R&D based technological solutions and products, CSIR deliversimmediate relief by providing hand sanitisers, soaps and disinfectants to mitigate COVID-19
Road Transport & Highways Ministry issues an animation video illustration of Dos and Don't for Truck/Lorry Drivers as they handle increasing movements of goods across the country
Rotary Club of Delhi Heritage Supplies 50,000 Reusable Face Masks in Coordination with PIB; Face Masks Made by Women Tailors Working from Home During Lockdown Period; Masks Distributed by Principal Director General, PIB
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NTPC provides uninterrupted power supply despite lockdown
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Ministry of Tourism organises 8th webinar of "DekhoApnaDesh" series on “North East India-Experience the Exclusive villages”Webinar generates good interest as people from several countries attend the webinar
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Income Tax Tribunal, ITAT, for the first time, holds hearing through video conferencing
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PimpriChinchwad COVID-19 War Room leverages technology and uses data tracking for effective decision making
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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES
- Chandigarh: While the national recovery rate of Corona affected is 20%, recovery rate of Chandigarh is 56%. Chandigarh ranks 3rd amongst the highest recovery states/Union Territories. The doubling rate of corona cases in Chandigarh is 30.26 days; as compared to national average of 8.6 days. A Special Drive is being conducted for examining the Inmates in the Jail, so that there is no outbreak of COVID-19 in the Jail premises.
- Punjab: Chief Minister directed the Department of Industries and the District Industries Centres, functioning under the DCs, to provide approvals to all industrial units eligible to reopen along with required curfew passes, within 12 hours of applying. Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi interacted with the youngest woman Sarpanch of Punjab Pallavi Thakur through video conference on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day. The Prime Minister said that the farmers of the country especially Punjab had selflessly worked hard to fill the foodgrains of the country.
- Haryana: In this hour of crisis, Haryana Government’s COVID-19 Control Room is proving to be very helpful for the people of the State as they are able to resolve their problems by calling the helpline. In view of present COVID-19 situation, Haryana government has directed that for now, private schools should only charge tuition fees on per month basis from students.
- Himachal Pradesh:The state government has launched ‘HarGharPathshala’ programme to provide home-based teaching facility to the students so that their studies do not suffer due to curfew imposed in the state in wake of corona pandemic. Under this, multiple programmes are being used to ensure maximum reach of the students. A three-hour slot per day on Doordarshan Shimla is focusing on classes X and XII. Besides, online classes are also being conducted by teachers via Whatsapp and centralized website.
- Arunachal Pradesh: Government lifts restrictions on functuining of food processing and cottage industries.
- Manipur: Authorities taking all precautions to ensure social distancing during Ramzan.
- Mizoram: Disinfection drive of the essential items trucks underway at Vairengte, the Assam - Mizoram border check gate to contain spread of COVID19.
- Nagaland: Muslim Council Dimapur appeals to the community members to understand the importance of social distancing during ramzan. Hence not to organiseNamaz-e-Taraweeh at rooftops, parkings and apartments etc.Nagalad state authorities to make Saturday a working day for schools to cope up with the loss of classes due to COVID-19 pandemic.
- Sikkim: Health Minister, Dr. M.K Sharma inaugurated Mobile Testing Booth for RT-PCR at Rangpo to combat COVID19.
- Kerala: Shops in rural areas in the state allowed to open from today except those in red zones. 7 new places in the state declared as hotspots. State welcomes Centre's move to gear up for bringing back Indians stranded in foreign countries amid Covid outbreak. 6000 houses & flats are getting ready in Ernakulam alone as part of quarantine facilities for those to be brought back from abroad. Total number of cases till yesterday: 450, Recoveries: 331, Active cases:116.
- Tamil Nadu: Chennai residents go on panic buying spree ahead of complete lockdown from Sunday in 5 cities including Chennai. 18-year-old son of Covid patient tests positive in Puducherry; with this the total positive cases reported in the UT rose to 9 and active cases to 4. CM writes to Delhi CM urging him to take care of the 559 TN Muslims who have been quarantined in Delhi after attending the Markaz event. Total cases till yesterday: 1755, Deaths: 22, Discharged: 866. Maximum cases from Chennai 452.
- Karnataka: 15 new cases confirmed today. Bangalore 6, Belagavi 6, Chikkaballapur 1, Mandya 1 and Dakshinkannada 1. A journalist from Bengaluru Urban among the infected. Total cases 489. So far 18 dead and 153 discharged.
- Andhra Pradesh : 61 new cases found in the last 24 hours; 2 deaths reported from Kurnool & Krishna. Srikakulam, which had zero case till now, reports 3 +ve cases. Total +ve cases till now: 1016, Active cases: 814, Recovered: 171, Deaths: 31, Samples tested : 61,266. State sounds high alert in Kurnool , Guntur , Krishna  &Chittoor  districts which have reported 66% of the total cases.
- Telangana : An inter-ministerial central team arrives in Hyderabad to assess the Covid-19 situation and issue necessary directions to state authorities in tackling the pandemic. At least 15 discharged patients agreed to donate their plasma whenever it is required. Nearly 30% of the districts in Telangana have been declared Covid-19 free by the government.No new cases reported in Telangana as of now. Number of positive cases 983. Active cases 663.
- J&K: 1071 samples tested in the last 24 hours. 40 more positive new cases today- all from Kashmir. Total positive cases now 494. Jammu-57 Kashmir-437. Total deaths now 6
PIB FACTCHECK